MEL BROOKS – THE HITLER RAP (To Be Or Not To Be) 1984 (Audio Enhanced)

Springtime for Hitler from The Producers

Springtime for Hitler

voking the specter of the Holocaust, Abe Foxman described an informal group pledge at a Donald Trump rally as Hitlerian. The pledge, conducted in Trump’s signature comedic fashion typically on display his rallies, asks supporters to commit to voting him regardless of potential and unanticipated inconveniences. Former head of the left-wing Anti-Defamation League, Foxman’s statements on anti-Semitism still carry weight within the media landscape.

Speaking to supporters at a campaign event in Florida, Trump began the light-hearted vow.

“I’ve never done this before. Can I have a pledge, a swearing? Raise your right hand. I do solemnly swear that I, no matter how I feel, no matter what the conditions, if there’s hurricanes or whatever – that’s good enough – will vote on or before the 12th for Donald J. Trump for President! Now I know. Thank you,” said Trump.

The happy crowd intermittently repeated the various segments of the brief pledge in good cheer.

Drawing on his escaping and survival of the Holocaust, Foxman cast the playful pledge as dark and ominous.

“As a Jew who survived the Holocaust, to see an audience of thousands of people raising their hands in what looks like the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute is about as offensive, obnoxious and disgusting as anything I thought I would ever witness in the United States of America,” said Foxman.

“We’ve seen this sort of thing at rallies of neo-Nazis. We’ve seen it at rallies of white supremacists. But to see it at a rally for a legitimate candidate for the presidency of the United States is outrageous.”

As if the raising of one’s right hand is a Nazi-exclusive, the Times of Israel dutifully carried water for Foxman’s narrative. In so doing, Foxman and the like-minded cheapen genuine anti-Semitism by dishonestly weaponizing it as a tool against political opponents.

Commentary Magazine’s John Podhoretz jumped in, as well.

Last week, the ADL misrepresented “praise” from Nation of Islam cult-leader, racial nationalist, and anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan to push the same narrative of Trump as guilty of (non-existent) association with haters of Jews.

Left-wing media is ramping up the narrative of Trump-as-Hitler-2.0 and his supporters as Nazi acolytes. This narrative will be fused with the racial and ethnic agitation at the core of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in the general election, which builds on the growing fiction of blacks, Hispanics and other minority groups as forming the neo-proletariat in need of paternalistic protection from Democrats.

What We’re Watching as 4 States Vote and Both Parties Court Michigan

Voters go to the polls in four states on Tuesday, with Michigan the biggest prize for both parties. Donald J. Trump seeks to strengthen his position as the Republican front-runner, while his rivals look to slow his drive toward the nomination. For the Democrats, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont faces a crucial test in his upstart campaign to derail Hillary Clinton. Here are some of the things we will be watching in the contests in Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan and Mississippi.

But it is not clear whether he struggled to win because he had lost ground or because anti-Trump voters had consolidated around Mr. Cruz. Mr. Trump’s share of the vote on Saturday was roughly in line with what he had won on Super Tuesday; Mr. Cruz finished with a far higher share of the vote than his Super Tuesday total.

The outcome on Tuesday could be telling. If Mr. Trump were to replicate his Super Tuesday performance, he would take about 35 percent of the vote in Michigan and 42 percent in Mississippi. If he were to lose significant ground from last week’s vote, it could present an opening for one of his rivals.

Will Rubio Continue His Slide?

It seems clear that Mr. Cruz benefited on Saturday from the somewhat sudden slide of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Mr. Rubio managed only 17 percent in the Kansas caucuses on Saturday — and that was his high-water mark across four states for the day. He bounced back with a decisive victory in Puerto Rico on Sunday, but that might not stop him from dropping in the states with the two largest delegate hauls on Tuesday: Michigan and Mississippi.

Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio has devoted substantial time to Michigan, and, according to local Republican officials backing Mr. Rubio, he has cut into the core of Mr. Rubio’s support: upscale, suburban Republicans. Mr. Rubio also faces the prospect of losing similar voters in Mississippi to Mr. Kasich, while anti-Trump conservatives drift to Mr. Cruz there.

The good news for Mr. Rubio is that he could fare much better in the two other states that vote on Tuesday: Idaho and Hawaii. But as any West Coast Heisman Trophy contender knows, late-night success can often be missed by a press corps faced with Eastern time zone deadlines.

Who Will Win the Race Within the Race?

Though Mr. Cruz benefited from Mr. Rubio’s weak performance in Kentucky and Louisiana, it is not clear whether he can make the same gains in Michigan. It is a blue state with relatively few evangelical voters, and Mr. Cruz has struggled so far in such states.

Instead, Mr. Kasich could be the candidate who benefits from Mr. Rubio’s struggles. He is a relatively moderate governor from a neighboring state, and polls show he has moved into a tight race with Mr. Cruz for second place.

The race for second is a test for both Mr. Cruz and Mr. Kasich as each looks to present himself as the strongest Trump alternative. The second half of the primary season includes many Democratic-leaning states, like California, New Jersey and New York. A strong second-place showing in Michigan would ameliorate concerns about Mr. Cruz’s ability to compete in blue states; if Mr. Kasich were to fare better, it would set him up for a strong showing in his home state next week.

Is Michigan Sanders’s Best Bet?

On paper, Michigan should be a good state for Mr. Sanders. It is a white, working-class state that has been ravaged by outsourcing and ought to be receptive to Mr. Sanders’s message on economic issues. It is also a fairly liberal state, with big college towns like Ann Arbor and East Lansing. The state is whiter than the nation as a whole, and black voters — who have turned out in droves for Mrs. Clinton in the South — make up roughly the same share of the electorate there as they do nationally.

Bernie supporters would support Hillary if she became the Democratic nominee. Why? Because when it’s Democrats vs GOP, Bernie supporters…

The burden for Mr. Sanders in Michigan is even higher because he needs to make up for losses in the first part of the primary season with even stronger showings going forward. The polls suggest that Mrs. Clinton is on track for a decisive victory, so Mr. Sanders needs a surprise win to show he still has a path of his own.

Is Mississippi a Southern Bellwether?

Mr. Trump rolled through the Deep South on Super Tuesday, winning every state in the region, some of them in landslides. In Alabama, he routed his nearest competitor, Mr. Cruz, by more than 22 percentage points. But when the race came to Louisiana on Saturday, the outcome looked markedly different. Mr. Trump beat Mr. Cruz by about four percentage points, and he fared far worse among voters who cast ballots on Saturday than those who voted early.

The Mississippi primary will offer some insight into whether Mr. Trump is slipping with some of the party’s most conservative voters. Demographically, the state resembles its two neighbors, which had such different results. It is also filled with Christian conservative voters: 83 percent of those who cast ballots in the 2012 Republican presidential primary called themselves evangelicals. The good news for Mr. Trump is that, unlike Louisiana’s primary, Mississippi’s contest is not limited to Republicans, so he could benefit from the Democrats and independents who have been drawn to his candidacy. But if Mr. Trump is starting to slip with Christian conservatives — whether because of his innuendo about his manhood, Mr. Cruz’s growing strength, or both — it could be evident here.

Who Can Win the Bare Minimum?

Candidates must meet a minimum percentage of the vote in certain states to receive any delegates, which are allocated proportionally in the Republican race until March 15 (starting then, states can decide whether to hold winner-take-all or proportional contests). The more candidates who meet the threshold, the more delegates are scattered — and the less likely it is that any candidate can reach the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the convention.

Three of the four states where Republicans are voting on Tuesday have thresholds: To win delegates, a candidate must receive at least 20 percent of the vote in Idaho, and at least 15 percent in Michigan and Mississippi.

The two candidates most in danger of not reaching the minimum are Mr. Rubio and Mr. Kasich. Mr. Rubio learned how much that can hurt on Super Tuesday, when he failed to meet the threshold in three states and was denied all but a handful of delegates. If Mr. Rubio and Mr. Kasich are shut out entirely on Tuesday, it will push the Republican contest closer to a two-man race.

Poll: Trump dominating Rubio in Florida, Kasich in Ohio

By ELIZA COLLINS

Donald Trump has a commanding lead over Marco Rubio and John Kasich in their home states.

A CNN/ORC poll out Wednesday has Trump holding the lead in Florida with almost double the share of voters than Rubio (40 percent to 24 percent). Cruz follows with 19 percent and Kasich has just 5 percent.

The poll of Ohio Republicans has Trump ahead of the Ohio governor 41 percent to 35 percent. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has 15 percent and Rubio is a distant fourth with 7 percent.

Rubio’s campaign is working nonstop to try and win the state. The Florida senator has essentially camped out in Florida, doing back to back events throughout the state.

Trump appeared on CNN “New Day” Wednesday and was asked about the poll, particularly what it means if he’s able to take both states.

“At that point it’s pretty tough for anybody to do anything,” he said. “I would love to see the party come together and unify.”

There’s added pressure for both Kasich and Rubio to do well at home since a majority of voters in both states say they should get out if they aren’t able to do well: 71 percent for Kasich in Ohio and 66 percent for Rubio in Florida.

Both states are delegate-heavy, with 99 delegates up for grabs in Florida and 66 delegates in Ohio. Both states are the winner-takes-all strategy.

The poll is also good news for Hillary Clinton. The former secretary of state leads Bernie Sanders 63 percent to 33 percent in Ohio and 61 percent to 34 percent in Florida.

The Florida poll of 264 likely Democratic primary voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 6 points. The poll of 313 likely Republican primary voters in the state has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points. In Ohio the poll included 294 likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of 5.5 percentage points, 359 likely Republican voters with a margin of error of 5 percentage points. The poll was conducted March 2-6.